


if you were me

by jackson_potter179



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Draco is a fan of the Chudley Cannons and you can’t argue otherwise, Good Draco Malfoy, Hufflepuff Representation, Lucius Malfoy Dies, Narcissa Black Malfoy is a Good Parent, Supportive Narcissa Black Malfoy, it takes a village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:55:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23021326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackson_potter179/pseuds/jackson_potter179
Summary: There is a universe out there where Draco Malfoy grows up spoiled, bigoted and sheltered.He has a father and a lineage that sets an example of blood purity and elitism. He is sorted into Slytherin without pause and by the age of 11 Draco Malfoy is sure of his place in the world.This is not that universe.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 73





	if you were me

**Author's Note:**

> Time passes, kills everything in its path  
> 

The attack that killed thirteen and injured four was ruled an accident.

The publicly released version of the official report stated:

“… _at 11:23am on the 24th of Novembe_ r _1984 in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry Of Magic [Ruling body of the United Kingdom greater region] located on the ninth floor the unspeakable **retracted** continued their research into the **retracted** under the orders of the Wizengamot [closed session of 12.04.1982]... _

_The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has found no evidence of deliberate tampering or intention in causing this explosion…”_

This report was read in a large house in Wilshire, England, surrounded by wrought-iron gates and high hedges; that even as high as they were could not shield from this news. It was delivered accompanied with an official letter of grievance, addressed to one Madam Narcissa Malfoy neé black. 

However, as disturbing as the report was, and offensive the automated letter appending it, the recipient did not care about the news.

She did not care for facts and figures and retracted details of the incident that took the love of her life away from her.

Narcissa Malfoy could not care about this, as all of her care was already taken by the bouncing boy whom she adored and doted over since the day he arrived and filled the missing piece of her heart. Her son who she was now singularly responsible for.

In the weeks that followed the incident a lot of Lucius’ old friends had reached out, offering support to her in more ways than one. Draco was now the one and only heir of the Malfoy line, and as such his life was more valuable then ever to those whom valued blood purity and the families of old. 

These are not the people of note in this story - the people of importance, of value and of change are the others.

In particular is that who Narcissa had and would have always loved with her entire being, no matter how much she had tried to squash it with all the efforts a good, pure-blooded wife could manage. The middle sister, Andromeda Tonks née Black. 

There had always been a special link between the two sisters as Andromeda had always protected Narcissa - from their older sister who was more wicked than weak, the sneering relatives who openly spoke about the third daughter as an avid disappointment to the family name, the Slytherin classmates who jeered and snickered at her lack of sneak and ambition – and the bond they had was not something that could be forgotten with the burning of a family tapestry.

In his universe the hidden rooms of the Malfoy household saw these sisters reunited – in tearful arguments, in screamed regrets, in sobbing embraces and in watery smiles.  


As a result of this Narcissa met Ted Tonks on a Sunday three months after she lost her husband. Despite his blood status the rules of politeness maintained that she treat him with respect when in his own home. 

Ted Tonks could charm a legless man into buying a pair of socks, the man was perfectly jovial and likable in a way that Narcissa despised. She soon caught herself enjoying the company of the man she would have called a Mudblood mere weeks prior.

His gentle manor and loving treatment of her sister ensured that Narcissa begun to like and even respect the man whom she had always resented for taking her sister from her, and as the seasons changed so did Narcissa’s opinion of him (and others like him).

Narcissa still maintained herself in the upper class of society – she knew best of all the benefits that came from the contacts her husband had made and as a single mother in an unsure world she was certainly not about to minimise the safety net provided by those whom surrounded her. 

The evening of expensive wines, extravagant balls and thinly veiled blood purity became Narcissa’s stage as she spoke their language, laughed when appropriate and acted the part.  


It was on the Sunday mornings when she visited with her sister, the early dinners with her brother-in-law and the days she agreed to look after her spitfire of a niece that she also expanded her understanding of the world at the hands of her new family, and knew that these people at these parties spoke of things they knew not.

In this universe Draco was raised by a healthy smattering of people – his mother who only wanted what was best, his house elves that respected him like no one else, the portraits around the house who came together one night soon after the accident and agreed that for the lifeblood of the Malfoy household they would all have to do their part.

Draco grew up not in a sheltered manor surrounded by a society that spat hate and a father that enforced bigotry with an iron fist, but rather with a cousin that laughed freely and an uncle that exposed him to a culture beyond his own. 

Draco maintained the same obsession with Quidditch, riding the fastest brooms and the Chuddley Cannons (who he knew would get their break next season), but he also knew how to throw a tight spiral using a football, and all the rules to rugby because he played it with his muggle cousins when they all congregated at the Tonks’ house once a month.

The guidance and example set by Nymphadora Tonks mattered more than that of Pansy Parkinson or Blaise Zabini and Draco did not consider his father his hero – a man he barely remembered and his mum spoke fondly of and still loved – but rather those around him that taught him what it meant to be a good man.

He remembered the way his mother and aunt spoke about their male cousins in wistful reminiscence – Regulus the boy who played at the dutiful son but used to sneak the sisters cookies and was kind to all manor of beings and Sirius the black sheep who was sorted into Gryffindor but was one of the most clever boys the sisters knew, the funniest child in the family who would bend over backwards to cheer Narcissa up after Bellatrix made her cry.

Draco did not align his expectations of a good man with that of a pure blood that valued wealth and status, but rather a good man was that which treated his family with respect and love, that which valued hard work and strong morals.

The example set to him by Ted Tonks was only contrasted by the men he interacted with inside his mother’s second circle – the fathers of his ‘friends’ – whom he saw hurt their children with words, expectations and sometimes fists.

His mother explained that this was how it was done in high society; this was how her cousins were raised and how she was raised. 

Draco did not say it and he would take the thought to his grave but he despised the idea of anything other than the upbringing he had experienced - and when he saw the pain in the eyes of the children his age he thought for just one moment to himself that if it spared him from what they experienced maybe it was better his father was dead.

In this universe and in any universe, Draco had Narcissa Malfoy as a mother, and as such he still had the very best of wizarding manners and propriety instilled in him. Draco knew more than one language, and he spoke as eloquently as a 14th century king may; he knew how to behave at the dinner table, and he gave orders as if he was born for it (and if Lucius had his way he was).

But something that occurred in this universe unlike others was that Draco knew what hard work was. Narcissa Malfoy did not want to raise a spoiled son (that is not to say that she did not spoil him, for she did) but perhaps in other worlds she would have given into the whims of her husband and valued giving her son things more than teaching him things, but in this universe Narcissa raised her son alone.

It was she who taught him their history, gave him what he wanted and what he didn’t, took him to her sisters’ house, spoke with him at the end of everyday over dinner and disciplined him when he did wrong. It was she who raised him with a stern hand and a loving heart. 

In this universe Draco grows up very different but also in many ways the same.

In this universe Draco meets Harry Potter while getting his robes fitted. 

He doesn’t insult any member of the staff or any particular demographic of wizard kind; he talks excitedly about learning at Hogwarts and watching Quidditch live and winning the house cup. He introduces himself to Harry and asks for Harry’s name back, because in this universe Draco has an inflated sense of self importance (he’s a Malfoy) but he also cares about the existence of others.

In this universe Narcissa Malfoy stays with her son in Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions because she is still wary of surprise explosions when out in public – a fear that will remain with her until the day she dies – and so she watches this interaction with interest. Narcissa Malfoy is still a Slytherin after all, and although her values and morals may be more palatable, she still wants what is best for her son, so she invites Harry Potter to join them as they shop.

Harry explains he is being guided by Hagrid and Narcissa claims that is nonsense, she will happily accompany both boys as they gather their supplies and Madam Malkin will pass on the message to Hagrid that she is treating the boys to ice cream at Florean Fortescue's and he is to meet them there.  
The Malfoy name still means something, and if her wealth isn’t enough, the look Narcissa directs to the shop keeper would be, so the intimidated worker agrees, and the trio are on their way.

In this universe Draco is the first friend Harry makes in the wizarding world – other than Hagrid of course – and as Draco animatedly explains the rules of quidditch - after pausing for a second in confusion because Harry Potter doesn’t know about quidditch – Harry thinks about how he can’t wait to join this wonderful and weird world.

Draco sits with his fellow purebloods on the train – because regardless of upbringing there is safety in numbers and his mother taught him that much – but he doesn’t insult any family and instead plays the game he has been playing around these people since the age of 4, listening and watching but only speaking when necessary. He hums when someone asks for agreeance but is not outspoken on the same topic as he may have been in another time and another place.

He still sees Harry Potter on the train but does not insult anyone else in the cabin, he ignores then and his behaviour can be considered thinly veiled rudeness, but this is not because of anything to do with blood. 

He knows of the Weasley family – their proclivity to stay on the side of good no matter how flawed their process – and he knows that the Weasley patriarch did not say nice things about his father. This Draco was raised to have pride in his name, therefore a slight against it was still a slight against him.

In this universe when the sorting hat is placed on Draco head it does not have an automatic answer for him. This Draco is given a choice by the hat between two houses. This Draco has been raised by his mother, his extended family and by the greater world around him.

This Draco knows that if he goes anywhere other than Slytherin there will be no punishment, no disappointment and no father to be ashamed of him. This Draco knows that his mother loves him.

He knows that there’s are Hufflepuffs like his cousin Tonks that are funny and smart, there’s a Gryffindor uncle he had never met but his mother remembered so fondly who was not only brave but kind and a jokester, the Ravenclaw relative who hung in the library who made the funniest comments when Draco read aloud and gave him advice whenever Draco stormed away after an argument with his mother and he knows powerful and loving Slytherins exist like his Mother and his Aunt, and a father he doesn’t remember.

And with all of this knowledge in the forefront of his mine, the Draco in this universe makes a choice.


End file.
